It is a common problem in today's industrial world for individuals to be exposed to prolonged and/or high decibel levels of sound. For example, persons in work environments such as commercial aviation, factories, steel mills, power plants and the like, may be exposed to noise and sound levels that can result in temporary and/or permanent damage to their hearing. It is known that damage to a person's hearing can occur before the exposure to a sound becomes physically painful to the person.
Because of the possibility of hearing damage and loss in persons working in certain environments or participating in certain activities, many private, state, and federal safety regulations require workers to wear hearing protection, such as sound absorbing earplugs or earmuffs. In many environments, earplugs do not block a sufficient amount of noise or are not accepted hearing protection; thus, earmuffs are often tile only accepted or useful means for protecting a person's hearing.
Earmuffs provide aural protection by fitting and sealing tightly to a person's head around their outer ears. This tight seal to the head, around the outer ear, along with other materials used in the construction of the earmuff, prevents air and sound from penetrating the protective barrier to the ear provided by the earmuff. Various types of conventional sound protective earmuffs are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,134 discloses an earmuff having a sealing ring composed of liquid and foam that fits around the wearer's outer ear.
Although earmuffs can provide protection from sound and noise, it is not uncommon that individuals that are required or that choose to wear sound absorbing earmuffs must also wear eyeglasses, such as prescription eyeglasses for purposes of correcting vision, or safety glasses for protection of eyesight. Unfortunately, in order to wear eyeglasses in conjunction with earmuffs it is necessary to insert the eyeglass ear stem between the earmuff pad and the head of a user, resulting in the earmuff pad being pressed against the eyeglass frame stem, thereby disrupting the seal of the earmuff around the person's ear and allowing air and sound to enter. To be effective as a hearing protection device, the tight, flush seal of an earmuff against the wearer's head must not be disrupted.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,155 discloses a sound absorbing article that attaches to the ear stem of eyeglasses. The article is designed to be used in conjunction with earmuffs in a manner such that gaps that might be formed between the earmuff and the stem of the eyeglasses are filled in by the article. However, it appears unlikely that the article disclosed in the '155 patent would completely eliminate gaps near where the earmuff contacted the sound absorbing article. In addition, it appears that the eyeglass ear stein with the sound absorbing article attached would be difficult to insert between the earmuff pad and the user's head without first lifting the earmuff pad away from the head and thereby, at least temporarily, breaking the seal between the earmuff pad and the user's head.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for a device that will protect a person from excessive sound and noise, yet allow the person to comfortably wear eyeglasses or safety glasses without impairing the hearing protection provided by the device. The present invention comprises a simple, effective earmuff apparatus to provide hearing protection for persons that also wear eyeglasses.